Category: Re-Purposed Objects

Nestled in the hills just south of Napa, CA
is the fabulously fun Glashoff sculpture gallery
and garden in Suisun City, CA. Be sure to check
it out if you are ever in Napa. Phillip Glashoff
continues the tradition of the lifestyle he was
born to on his northern California ranch.
His real passion is creating sculpture out of
scrap metal. The results dot the landscape
of the ranch; herds of steel sculpted cattle,
giant banjos, and archways made of street signs
just to name a few of which must be hundreds.

My favorite is the wind-up toy car that sits atop
a pole in the middle of the sculpture garden.

In 1953, Seattle artist Lewis Nasmyth was hired to “rustle up” a design
for a western-style gas station in Georgetown. Featuring a 44-ft. wide
cowboy hat and 22-ft. high boots, the Hat n’ Boots opened the next year
to a stampede of customers. In fact, for a time it was the biggest selling
station in the state. Legend has it even Elvis dropped by when he was in
town during the World’s Fair in ’62. But in the early 60’s, a new interstate
I-5 started diverting traffic away from the station. By the late 80’s it
pretty much looked like trail’s end for the Hat n’ Boots. That’s when some
Georgetown residents saddled up to rescue the soul of their community
established a permanent home for them in Oxbow Park.

This is a beautiful example of reuse.
Back in the day when light bulbs were
new on the market, Germans had big,
bulbous machines for testing light
bulb voltage. Today these large, 1920s
machines are being re-purposed as bar carts.